A meeting of the UNSC (Photo: VNA) New York (VNA) – Vietnam and Indonesiahave emphasised the need to give priority to promoting intra-regional cooperationin the Great Lakes Region inAfrica on the basis of peace and stability goals, and called for supportfrom the international community for the region.
In a joint statement delivered at an in-person meeting of the UN SecurityCouncil (UNSC) on Great Lakes Regionin Africa on October 13, the two ASEAN member nations highlighted theimportance of implementing peace, security and cooperation agreements to addressremaining challenges in the region.
They shared views of the UNSC member nations in acknowledging cooperation effortsof the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and other countries in theregion.
The statement stressed that the root causes of instability in the region must be addressed through strengtheningconciliation and coordination in solving illegal activities of armed groups, strengtheningdevelopment cooperation, as well as solving issues related to management of naturalresources.
At the meeting, Huang Xia, Special Envoy of the UNSecretary‑General for the Great Lakes Region updated participants on the implementationof the 2013 Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRCongo and the Region over the last six months.
Xia said that the Great Lakes countries maintain their commitments tostrengthen cooperation and implement peace, security and cooperationagreements.
He mentioned difficulties facing the region’s socio-economic development amidthe COVID-19 outbreak, saying that the member nations of GreatLakes Region have so far reported750,000 COVID-19 cases and they are making every effort to contain the spreadof the disease and address socio-economic impacts caused by the health crisis.
The 2013Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework was signed by 13countries in the Great Lakes region to cooperate in maintaining peace in DRCongo and the region. The agreement is sponsoredby the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, theGreat Lakes Region and the UN.
Indonesia and Vietnam are both non-permanent members of the UNSC in 2020. Thetwo countries have made several joint statements to promote ASEAN's voice andimage since May. This month, the two countries made a joint statement on Mali'ssituation on October 8./.
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